Reporter

Teacher Tim Creighton had a simple goal: raise a few hundred dollars to buy some camera equipment for his students.

But fund-raising has been a tough ask at Kingswood High, near Penrith, which has a large number of students from disadvantaged backgrounds and among the lowest rate of parent contributions and other private sources of income of any public school in Sydney.

Mr Creighton found a novel solution in online crowd-funding - a technique usually favoured by filmmakers or bands to get the wider public to pledge cash for a creative project. He set up a donations page on Pozible.com, and was thrilled with the result.

''I set the goal at $250 as a sign of pure desperation, and it was fully funded within a day,'' he says. ''It was a hell of lot easier than a sausage sizzle or a walkathon and whatever else we've done previously.''

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Though public schools primarily rely on state and federal governments for financial support, most seek additional private revenue from voluntary fees, subject contributions or fund-raising, with wildly mixed results.

Some selective high schools and others in Sydney's more affluent neighbourhoods are earning more than 10 times the private income of high schools in Sydney's poorer areas, an analysis by Fairfax Media has found.

Data on the My School website shows private revenue in 2011 ranged from well in excess of $2000 per student at schools such as the Conservatorium High School ($4901) and Hornsby Girls High School ($2929) to less than $300 per student at many schools in Sydney's outer suburbs, such as Lurnea High School in Liverpool ($232). Kingswood received $357 per student.

James Ruse Agricultural High, the state's top performing school, received more than $2 million in fees, charges and contributions from parents in 2011, while Punchbowl Boys High School earned just over $100,000.

Jihad Dib, principal at Punchbowl Boys High, said at best, just 20 per cent of parents paid their voluntary fees and many of those could only make partial payments. ''There's a strong welfare dependency group within the school … money is quite tight,'' he said.

But parents and the community made hugely valuable non-financial contributions he stressed - through time or in-kind donations.

''We've got a gardening program and all the materials were donated, including time from people to help us set up the garden,'' he said.

Mr Creighton has since been able to buy a digital camera, plus other materials, and hopes to raise more with the campaign.